Image source: Hernán Piñera, Creative Commons
In Part I of Letting Go of Bad Attitudes we discussed Pride, Judgmental Attitudes, Uncontrolled Will and Stagnation. We continue the Bad Attitude section with….
Insensitivity
Insensitive leaders are unconcerned about others. They have no empathy and are uncaring. They do not listen—not because they are prideful but because they lack compassion. They are so hardened that they can unknowingly hurt people and kill ideas and creativity.
Compassion, on the other hand, develops as a result of treating your neighbor as yourself. It involves serving your employees, team members, and customers with empathy. It means taking the time to understand coworkers and team members. It involves genuine listening.
Dishonesty
Dishonesty involves more than cheating, lying, or stealing; it is rooted in deceit. Dishonesty happens when a leader denies reality or seeks gain through deviousness. It is about game playing, manipulation, and pretense.
Dishonesty always destroys the fiber of a company—regardless of how good the numbers are. Integrity overcomes dishonesty. Leaders of integrity strive to avoid the deceitfulness of appearances. They are genuine, sincere, authentic, and trustworthy—qualities that build the confidence of coworkers and employees in their leaders.
Divisiveness
Nothing can destroy a team or an organization like a divisive leader. Fear, anxiety, and confusion rip apart relationships and teams. Shared vision and values are trashed. Divisiveness can create an us-versus-them atmosphere that separates workers from management, management from executives, and executives from the board. It literally is war.
Great leaders build great teams where the level of trust and mutual respect is so high that team members can openly, and even strongly, disagree with one another and then work toward effective solutions. Confrontational behavior enables team members to fully explore and understand the differences. Then everyone knows that each point of view has received full consideration before a decision is reached.
Avoidance of Suffering
Leaders who avoid suffering always choose the easiest solution or decision. They avoid problems, responsibilities, and difficulties. They lack perseverance, endurance, and courage. They have lost the will to grow.
Leaders who are “avoiders” make decisions that avoid suffering today without regard for the future, and as a result, their people are always scrambling to keep things together. Leaders who choose avoidance completely miss out on the opportunity to grow through adversity.
Instead of choosing to avoid suffering, leaders who persevere will gain experiential knowledge and confidence. These valuable qualities can be passed along to benefit others in the organization as well.
That’s quite a list! Just think how your quality of life will improve (it won’t happen overnight) if you loosen your grip and let go of each of these bad attitudes. You will increasingly be a leader of influence whom others will trust and follow.